1961 Sunbeam Alpine Series II Race Car

This smart Series II Sunbeam Alpine Race Car was purchased by our vendor a couple of years ago with the intention of doing a bit of circuit racing with his son, Oli, who had enjoyed a few outings in Classic Formula Ford and fancied racing with his dad. Our vendor is a well respected rally car engine builder (recently retired) and had enjoyed much success over many years driving rally cars but had no real experience of going round and round on the black stuff.

The car was basically race-ready when he purchased it but inevitably a few tweaks were necessary. The first test day did not end too well as the engine had something metallic for lunch and that was the end of that. So it was back to the drawing board and our vendor utilised his many years of experience carefully rebuilding the Alpine's engine. It’s a 1,890cc four-cylinder based on the Sunbeam Holbay 1,725cc unit, fully lightened and balanced with steel rods and forged pistons, fuelled by twin 45 DCOE Webers and exhausted through a tubular manifold. A dyno print-out prior to the rebuild showed 160bhp, it might be a bit more now and this power is fed through a Ford Escort 4-speed SCCR gearbox to the limited-slip diff.

Other competition features include a full roll-cage, alloy 45-litre fuel tank, Facet fuel pump, boot-mounted lightweight battery, high-torque starter, new aluminium lightweight radiator, Sparco bucket seat, TRS harnesses, plumbed-in Lifeline extinguisher, competition dashboard, Prototipo wheel and much more. We understand that the safety-related equipment is all in-date but advise interested parties to check on its currency and suitability, as with any competition car.

The Alpine presents well both inside and out, in Dove Grey with Burgundy Shelby-style racing stripes, a white Sebring-style alloy hardtop and sits on a set of silver Minilites.

With the passage of time, our vendor feels that he is becoming a little 'senior' to learn the ins and outs of circuit racing and would rather stick to thundering through a forest sideways, so the decision was taken to offer the car for sale. It hasn’t been run in anger since the rebuild but has covered a couple of hundred road miles.

The HSCC have opened up eligibility for their Historic Road Sports Championship by introducing an 'Invitation Class' for cars with non-standard components and the car will undoubtedly qualify for other events and of course, sprints and hill climbs.

Supplied to auction with a history file full of receipts and very sensibly guided, this classic Alpine could offer a rewarding route into the fun world of club-level motorsport.